The Professor's House by Willa Cather, first published in 1925, is a novel that explores themes of change, loss, and personal reflection. The story revolves around Professor Godfrey St. Peter, a university professor who is facing a crisis of identity and purpose as he approaches middle age. After completing a monumental academic work, St. Peter struggles with a sense of emptiness in his personal life and is detached from his family, particularly his wife and daughters. The novel alternates between St. Peter’s internal struggles and reflections on his past, particularly his relationship with his late friend Tom Outland, whose adventurous life on the frontier haunts him. As St. Peter retreats to his study—a symbolic "professor’s house"—he grapples with his sense of self and the changing world around him.